Page 25 - GEORptMar21
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The gap would then narrow to 6.8% of GDP in 2021 under the Fund’s scenario. The country has only just consolidated a downward trend towards smaller external deficits, including via a moderate weakening of the Georgian lari. Thinner currency inflows are likely to re-ignite pressures on the local currency.
Georgia’s current account deficit shrunk by 25% y/y to $897mn in 2019. That accounted for 5.1% of the year’s GDP, the smallest value in absolute terms since 2005, according to data published by the country’s central bank under BPM5 methodology.
5.1.3 Capital flows
Private transfers to Georgia up 22% y/y in July
The July volume of money transfers from abroad to Georgia amounted to $188.7mn (Georgian lari, or GEL, 578.0mn), up 22.1% y/y.
The most important source of such transfers to Georgia remained Russia (21.4% of the total). Compared to July 2019, the transfers from Russia to Georgia increased by 3.65%.
Transfers from Italy (15% of the total), US (12%) and Greece (11%) moved up by the more robust rates of 41% y/y, 34% y/y and 19% y/y, respectively.
Some 94.6% of the money transfers total from abroad came from 18 largest partner countries, with the volume of transfers from each of these countries exceeding $1mn in July. In July 2019, the share of these 18 countries was equivalent to 93.4% of the total volume of money transfers.
Also in July, $22.2mn (GEL 68.1mn) was transferred from Georgia to abroad, marking a 15.6% y/y increase.
Remittances to Georgia H1, 2020 [$ thousands]
inflows
outflows
net
% of total
net y/y
TOTAL
768,986
106,054
662,931
100%
-4.9%
Russia
145,699
35,051
110,648
17%
-31.5%
Italy
127,775
1,779
125,996
19%
14.5%
U.S.
88,046
1,810
86,236
13%
3.3%
Greece
96,395
4,270
92,125
14%
3.5%
Israel
71,435
1,665
69,769
11%
-9.1%
Turkey
46,269
17,886
28,384
4%
-11.3%
Germany
29,089
1,735
27,354
4%
31.7%
Ukraine
23,516
11,205
12,310
2%
173.3%
Azerbaijan
16,855
7,136
9,719
1%
178.9%
Spain
19,641
1,137
18,503
3%
-14.0%
25 GEORGIA Country Report March 2021 www.intellinews.com